Emerald Hearts
by ShootingStarz01
Summary: Seven Emeralds, eight dolls. Some of us would KILL to have all seven. Others only want to keep the peace. But all seven Emeralds would grant us our greatest wish... To be real. The problem is this; only one of us can be Shadow.  Rated T for safety.
1. Edgar Goes Shopping

_**Disclaimer/Author's Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters © SEGA! This mostly includes Shadow, (who does not yet exist in the story,) and Dr. 'Eggman' Robotnick. I have not yet gotten far enough in the story to figure out weather or not any other real characters will be entering, but if they do, everyone should already know that they are not mine.**_

_**Edgar, Namaarie, and Gwilwilethel belong to DarkShelby101. Raven belongs to MsAnimeFreak777 on Youtube. Sarah and Raian are property of boospar on Youtube. Swift is © thedarkhasfallen. Katashi, Dusk, Ryan, Xarach, Saffron, Saffron's family, Alex, Cecange, Max, Bernard, Hayato, Soluse, and Thorn (as well as any other Miscellaneous characters) are © me.**_

_**Ideas inspired by Rozen Maiden. =3**_

_**This story is rated "T" for a reason. Some of the characters are killers or otherwise violent, and thus blood may spill at some point (of course, the blood will not belong to the dolls, because they are dolls). In addition, to put things bluntly, a few of the characters are pervs. Over all, I did my best to keep them in character… Basically, it's rated "T" just to be safe. So far, it could probably pass for a "K+" rating, but since the rating may go up later, I would rather leave it at "T".**_

_**All reviews are appreciated, as long as you aren't flaming. Please enjoy!**_

**Emerald Hearts**

**By Maria Springer**

The fox looked down the road, gazing at all the shops.

Today was the birthday of his adopted sister, Raven… and he had forgotten until just this morning. It was bad enough he had forgotten until the very day, but worse, he didn't have a clue what to give her…

She was the kind of girl who seemed to be happy with whatever she was given, but she wasn't a girly-girl, punk, goth, prep, or _strict_ tomboy… So getting her clothing seemed a somewhat daunting task. In addition, he did not really want to be seen shopping for girls clothing, so that idea was out.

If it had been a bit later in October, a costume might have been a fine idea. However, he wanted to get her something that she would really be able to enjoy; something that she would be able to look at and remember who gave it to her. If he got her a costume, she may not remember so well and think she had just gotten it for herself. Besides, she would grow out of it and sell it or throw it away after only a year or two, wearing it only several times…

Raven loved anime and manga, but she seemed to have all the manga she could ever want, and he didn't know where to find Anime DVDs. Worse, he didn't know what a DVD was, as he never watched television...

Toys? Well… What toys did she even like? She was a twelve years old, and he had never really seen her play with toys… She seemed to be more into outdoor activities… and music.

It struck him like a bolt of lightning. _Music!_ Raven did love music. Maybe she wouldn't remember well that he had gotten the music for her after awhile, but she would use it more than a costume. Edgar looked around. There had to be a shop around here that had music. Almost everyone loved music. He walked down the street, picking a shop at random that looked like it might carry music, slipping inside.

Indeed, the shop carried music… Or at least, it claimed to. Edgar frowned. _Aren__'__t these too small to be records? __…__She mostly uses that little box with wires in it to listen to this stuff__…__ but__…__ I don__'__t know any of these, or what she likes. Does she have something to play these__…__? She must, somewhere__…__ Well, if she doesn__'__t, I can probably manage to get her something to play these with__…__ Let__'__s see__…_ He looked through the rack, trying to find an artist he recognized.

After he had been looking through the CDs about thirty minutes, the human cashier walked over to him. "You've been there for quite awhile, sir. Are you looking for something in particular?"

Edgar looked up. "Uh… yeah, yeah! Do you have any of these by The Angels?"

"…I've never heard of The Angels."

"…Bill Murray?"

"No…"

"The Andrews Sisters?"

"Nope."

"Judy Garland?"

"Uh—"

"Jerry Springer!"

"That _isn__'__t_ a musical artist, that's a comedian!" The cashier snapped.

"Oh…" Edgar muttered with embarrassment. "Well then, what _do_ you have?"

"Brittany Spears, Linkin Park, Hannah Montana, The Backstreet Boys, Faith Hill, Christy Carlson Romano, Skillet, Brad Paisley, Jump 5, Aaron Carter—"

"Uh… _nevermind_. I'll get going now. Thanks for your time." He began to head out the door.

"Oh, wait!" The cashier called after him. Edgar almost cursed. "Are you looking for antiques?"

"_Antiques_? N—" Only a second later, Edgar realized that what he was looking for actually was considered antique vinyl now. He hated to give Raven something she might consider to be out-of-style, but he was even less interested in getting her music that he hadn't even heard first, himself. It would be almost the same as walking into the store, grabbing something at random, and then giving it to her as a gift. There was more of a chance she would hate it than she would like it. He blinked. "Uh… yeah, actually. Do you know where I could find some?"

"There's an Antiques shop up the road to the left, on the right. You could probably find some of the junk you're looking for there."

_Junk? That stuff is classics!_

"Good luck." The human smiled, walking back behind the counter.

"…Thanks." Edgar managed not to glare or use a hostile tone. He stormed out of the shop.

Now, there was a new problem.

Raven didn't have a record player. Every single one of these he had heard of were records, and he was sure she didn't have something that could play them. Those smaller 'records' would definitely be better… if only he could get her one he knew for sure she would enjoy. Edgar felt defeated. Music was another item off his list, now. There couldn't be anything here she would enjoy…

Edgar heaved a sigh, standing up and turning to leave.

The room flipped. Suddenly, he found himself face down on the ground with a lovely brown case inches from his head. His head throbbed in pain. Clutching his injury and refraining from a swear, he pulled himself to his knees. _Perfect, just what I need! More brain damage!_ He glared at the leather case, quickly picking it up. _Whatever this is, it better not be broken. It would be just great if I had to pay for some broken antique teacups after they fell on me and almost cracked my skull open__…_

He set the case on his lap and opened it slowly, fearing that whatever was inside would, indeed, be broken.

Shock jolted through him.

Inside the leather casing lay a delicately crafted doll—fully intact after the fall. If this wasn't odd enough, the doll wasn't modelled after a human.  
It was a gentlemanly hedgehog.

Edgar blinked. _I don__'__t think I__'__ve ever seen suck a well-made doll__…__ And I__'__ve definitely never seen a mobian doll even half as nice as this! It__'__s got a nice outfit too__…_He gently took the doll out, hoping the shop owners wouldn't mind.

It was a black hedgehog with yellow-orange markings and neatly combed, but twisted, quills. He wore a 19th century gentleman's suit… It looked to be more of a British aristocrat's outfit, and from the earlier half of the century rather than the later; Red and white trimmed with gold—it looked quite well on him.

Edgar examined the doll a bit more. It was wind-able, complete with a key, so it probably was partially mechanical or played music… He looked at the shelf above where the records were. There were four other brown leather cases. _Maybe Raven would like one of these__…_

Without really thinking, the fox closed the case and set it gently on the floor, walking over to look at the shelf and see the others. _She__'__d probably like a girl better. It__'__d be kind of weird to get her a boy__…__ I mean, nice dolls like that of boys are harder to find anyway, and I__'__m pretty sure it__'__s because makers weren__'__t able to sell them._ One by one, he took the four other cases down from the shelf.

None were girls.

All of them, like the first he had looked at, were male, black hedgehogs, each with different-colored markings and different clothing. When all four cases were opened next to each other on the floor, Edgar frowned.

_That__'__s weird._ Two of the dolls looked identical, putting aside their different outfits. One of them, however, he found that he hated for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. The other, his gaze lingered on a moment… This one, for some reason, seemed very endearing. With a purple 17th century outfit, and oddly, a purple top-hat to go with it, the doll struck him as… perfect. Raven would like this one best.

Another customer opened the front door. An adult otter on a two-seater bike was headed straight toward the open doors. He tried to stop, but his young son had climbed from the backseat of the bike onto his shoulders and was tugging on his ears. He lost his footing on the petals. The bike slid to a stop just inside the antique store.

Momentum from the bike's wheel transferred effectively to the case Edgar had left on the floor. It slid across the floor at the bike's previous speed of 22 miles per hour, slamming into Edgar's foot. The fox yelped in pain, clutching his new injury.

"Sorry, there!" The otter called, also apologizing to the store owners for the scare.

_What did I do today to deserve such abuse? _Edgar growled. He quickly shut the cases of the three dolls he didn't want, then shut the case of the first doll he had seen, stacking the cases neatly and putting them on the shelf. It wasn't until now he realized how heavy each individual doll really was. Holding four of the dolls together was like carrying his own weight—maybe more.

Once he was sure the cases wouldn't fall off the shelf at all, he closed the case of the doll he had picked out and took it into his hands, carrying it to the cashier. "Excuse me? Uh, how much is this?"

The shop owners were an elderly couple. The woman—a red raccoon, also the cashier—looked up at him from behind her thickly rimmed glasses. "Oh, wonderful! Another one will be sold today! Those dolls could really use a wonderful home… May I see which one?" She asked cheerfully.

Edgar blinked_. I asked for the price__…_ All the same, he politely opened the case so she could see. She probably priced the dolls differently.

The cashier looked very pleased. "Oh, this one! But… Are you really sure you want him?"

Again, Edgar blinked. "Why wouldn't I?"

The male owner of the shop, who was a wolf, gave a sad sigh. "All of those dolls have been returned at least once in the last 10 years… May not seem like much for them, but _that_ doll you have has been returned at _least_ 100 times."

"Wh-what? But, what's wrong with it? I... took the liberty of checking it out first, and it looked perfectly fine…" The redwood-brown fox felt at a loss. He had felt almost certain this would be the perfect gift for his 'sister', even though he had thought a girl doll would have been better at first.

"That's just the thing…" The raccoon replied in a concerned tone. "We've looked too, and we don't see a thing wrong. But whenever someone returns that little one, they always take the first price we offer to buy it back; no matter how high or low. They say they just want it away from them as quickly as possible. We've asked them why, but no one has told us. They've only given excuses, such as they bought it for someone, and the person they bought it for didn't like it, or it just wasn't what they expected…" She shrugged.

"We do wonder if there's something peculiar with that one. We were going to take him home today to test him out, since he was just returned again this morning, but if you think that you really will end up keeping him, we'll sell him to you—half price." The male shopkeeper sat in his chair behind the counter.

Edgar himself felt a bit concerned. "…Are you saying this doll might be… cursed, or something?"

"No, not necessarily… We've just noticed out of all the dolls, that one's had quite a record of being returned… If there is something wrong with it, we wanted to give you warning."

Edgar pondered on this.

The wolf spoke up again. "It's funny, you'd never think that one would be a problem. The one we sold this morning…" He paused to chuckle. "In the 10 years we've had these dolls in our shop, the one sold this morning was never bought by anyone! And from the looks of it, I can see why… It's a spooky one, it is… I'm surprised someone actually wanted it. We've had some situations where the one you have here has been bought and returned in the same day… I half expected that other one to be returned already."

Curiosity sparked. "So, wait… Do all the dolls have something weird with them?"

The raccoon shook her head. "We haven't really had any complaints about the others… They seem to be fine, and I think the most one has been returned, besides that one you have, has been about 3 times."

_Weird. Well__…_ He looked at the doll again. _I hate to give Raven a doll that might be cursed__…__ but I have a gut feeling that that she__'__ll really like this doll. I don__'__t think it__'__s really cursed, anyway. It__'__s hard to explain why it__'__s been returned so many times, but__…_

He remembered the key.

_That__'__s it! I__'__m sure it__'__ll be perfectly safe and all__…__ I__'__ll just warn Raven not to wind it up, and it should never be able to do anything that would make anyone want to return it. If she winds it anyway__…__ well, I__'__ll tell her everything I know, so if she winds it up anyway, that__'__s her problem._ After a somewhat long pause, he smiled. "I think I'll go ahead and purchase it. How much?"

The wolf looked a bit surprised. "Well… Since I offered to give you half price for what should be such a fine doll… Hmm… I'll let you have it for even less than that. How's thirty-five dollars sound?"

Edgar's jaw almost dropped to the ground in shock. "W-wow! I think that's a deal!" He grinned, taking out his wallet and quickly looking through it for his cash. He was surprised to find he had actually saved up enough to be carrying around one hundred dollars, and had forgotten for a moment how lucky he was not to be completely broke at the moment. Normally, the doll would be very expensive for him… But it was extremely cheep for such a well-made antique doll. Besides that, it was for Raven. If he got close to going broke again spending money for her birthday present… he didn't mind it much.

He set the money on the counter, and the raccoon made sure he got the correct amount of change, putting the case in a plastic bag and gently handing it to him over the counter. "Please take good care of him… Have a good day, sir!"

"You too—" Edgar was cut off as the direct result of a short string of events. The otter biker, again due to his troublesome son who had _insisted_ they look around the shop, was tripped, slamming into the cases on the shelf and one was sent flying… Right into the back of Edgar's head.

Needless to say, he collapsed from the force of impact and jolt of pain that came with it, the case landing next to him, _almost_ inside the bag with the other. The other customers in the store and the shop owners gasped, rushing over to him and asking if he was alright. The otter apologized profusely, but Edgar wasn't thinking much about that, muttering how it didn't matter. He stared at the case that had hit him. As if it was being pulled by a magnet, he found his hands drawn toward the case, unlocking it, and opening it up…

The doll with the red and white suit was inside. It was the same case that had fallen on him before. The _same_ one that had slammed into his foot...

_Is this thing trying to kill me?_

Again, it appeared to be perfectly intact, and Edgar could only hope that the other one was just the same. He mildly wondered if there was some reason that this particular doll kept 'attacking' him. At the same time, it had to be suicide to actually buy it and take it home just because he thought it might 'mean to be' that way. It would be irresponsible and illogical to spend the rest of his money on a doll that could end up getting him killed, just like it was at this rate… He certainly wouldn't get killed if he decided not to take it home…

He closed the case, locked it, and picked it up, keeping the doll he had bought for Raven in his other arm, and began walking towards the shelf to put the other one back.

Today was _not_ his day. He walked right into a lion, who hadn't been there before from what he could remember. "Watch it!" The lion hissed. He looked to be some sort of punk or gangster, which only gave Edgar a red flag.

"Whoa! Sorry! Didn't see you there…" He tone came out as having a slight growl, but he had tried to make it polite.

"Yeah? Well use your eyes next time!" The lion hissed, giving him a strong glare.

"Well _excuse_ me…" Edgar didn't really have a problem with fighting the lion, even in public, but it was getting late. He needed to get to Raven's party…

He still had the other doll though…

_Oh, what the heck?_ The fox rolled his eyes, strolling back up to the counter and purchasing the other doll as well. If either or both of the dolls were really cursed, he could destroy them easily.

When he left the store, he really _was_ flat broke.


	2. Awakening the Fifth

_**A/N: If you recognise this chapter, it's because THIS is the chapter I accidentally uploaded to Merging Lies as Chapter 2. I fail! XD I uploaded the correct chapter to Merging Lies, though, so it's all good now. =P**_

He knocked on the door wearily. He had had no tie to wrap Raven's gift, or drop his own doll off at his 'house', but it didn't matter much. She might think the leather case held at tea set, like he had… The only problem was that he would need to discreetly look to see which case held her doll and which held his. It would be rather embarrassing if he gave a doll to her, only to take it back later and then explain to her that he had accidentally switched them out. If this happened, her other friends would probably think he was brainless… Even though he was, he didn't like to be thought of that way.

Footsteps soon were running up to the door with excitement. As soon as they had stopped, someone immediately unlocked the door and opened it. "_Eddy_!" A young purple hedgehog squealed, embracing the brown fox tightly. "You're the _first_ one here! I was worried you might not be able to come… great to see ya!"

The fox blinked. "First?"

"Yup, yup! Ooh, what's that?" Raven turned her gaze to the shopping bags Edgar was holding. Her jade eyes sparked. "Are those for me?"

Edgar chuckled, feeling slightly nervous. "_One_ of them is for you. The other is mine, but I didn't have time to drop it off at my—"

"Well, _let-me-see-let-me-see-let-me-see_!" The twelve year old grabbed Edgar's arm, dragging him quickly inside the house. Edgar was mostly used to such behavior from her, but all the same, he still wondered how his friend managed to drag his weight around with so little effort.

Of course, Raven did use effort in dragging Edgar. She just was too excited most of the time to show it.

They went over to the couch. Raven plopped down on it, bouncing, while Edgar was a bit more careful because of the dolls. He slipped both cases out of their separate bags, one at a time. Before he had even attempted to open one, his younger friend gasped. "You got me a doll?"

Edgar flinched, eyes wide. "How did—I mean… n… uh…" He blinked, then shifted nervously, mentally slapping himself. _She's not supposed to know what it is yet! But… if she doesn't like it… Dang._ "Please tell me you like dolls…"

Raven gaped. "…Are you _kidding_ me? I _**love**_ dolls! They're so cute, and pretty, and… _Hau_~!" It was apparent to Edgar that she was very excited now. She didn't refrain herself from bouncing up and down even more. "Please, please, _please_ let me see it, Eddy! _Pleeaaase_?"

Edgar was relieved. Unless she was super picky between boy and girl dolls, she would like her present. The one he had gotten for her seemed especially cute, and if that was all Raven cared about, it would be good enough. However, no one else was here quite yet… "Sorry Raven… I can't let you see it yet. We have to wait until everyone else is here, and everyone else has given you a present to open. There's a reason there's a 'present time' at birthday parties, right?" He gave her a playful smile.

Raven pouted for a moment, then suddenly grinned. "But I'm the birthday girl, and it's my party, so I should be able to open my presents when I want to."

_She's so stubborn! Hm…_ "Well, I'm the one who bought the present, and I haven't given it to you yet. So… er… I'll take it back to the store if you continue to be impatient." The fox waited for his sister's reaction.

"Eddy…" She whined.

_Score! Now if I can just resist her pouting… So… hard…_ He almost cringed. "I-I'm serious. So, you'll have to wait until you can open everyone else's presents until you get this one, deal?"

The 12-year-old sighed. "Alright big bro, it's a deal…" She was still disappointed, but she tried to pretend she wasn't. Edgar set aside the cases he was holding and wrapped her into a hug. "That's my girl!" She returned the hug more cheerfully.

"Hi Raven." A voice suddenly mumbled.

Edgar freaked. He yelped, almost jumping off the couch and knocking the cased dolls off. Raven only looked startled.

The voice's owner, a red swallow, looked entirely blank at receiving such a reaction. Edgar blushed black in embarrassment when he saw her.

He had thought the voice belonged to one of the dolls.

"Flame, how come you didn't knock at the door?" Raven demanded.

Flame blinked. "I didn't think I needed to. You left it open."

"_Happy Birthday to you!_

_Happy Birthday to you!_

_Happy Birthday dear Raven…_

_Happy Birthday to you!"_

Everyone cheered as she blew out the candles on the cake. The party was somewhat small, and Edgar was the only male there, but he didn't take much mind to it.

"Did you make a wish?" Asked a phoenix.

"Yeah, of course!" Raven said stubbornly.

"Well, what'd you wish for?" A cat questioned.

Flame became a bit cross. "Don't ask her what she wished for, Icy! If you tell someone then it's supposed to never come true!"

"Never?" Raven looked shocked.

"…Are you sure that it _never_ does?" Icy seemed uncertain.

"Yes!" Growled Flame. "People always, always told me on my birthdays to keep my wish a secret or else it would never come true!"

Even Edgar seemed a bit surprised. "Oh…"

There was silence for several seconds.

Suddenly, Raven jumped up from her seat. "_**It's present time!**_"She ran towards her living room where all the presents had been left. Edgar had managed to sneak both dolls into the bathroom earlier and sort out which one belonged to her, so there would be no confusion when she opened the case.

"But we didn't even have cake yet!" Icy protested.

Raven paused. She loved anything sweet… "…Well, we can have cake right after we open presents!" She continued to make her way over to the gifts. Normally, she might have waited on her presents, but she was dying to see the doll her older 'brother' had gotten for her.

"Raven, would ya like to open mine first?" The phoenix inquired.

"Uh…" Raven looked at the doll's case. It would be very rude if she just said 'no'. "Sure, Orenda. Which one is it?"

Orenda pointed to a neatly-wrapped box with fire print on it. "That one."

Raven took the gift. It came to be that she had opened every gift—a fashionable tomboy outfit from Orenda, some jewelry from Icy, a gift-card from Flame, and a bicycle from her real brother who hadn't been able to show up—except for one. She still hadn't seen the doll Edgar had given to her. She was nothing less than delighted when the time finally came that she could open the case up.

"Here you go, Rae. Happy Birthday!" Edgar smiled, handing the case to her. Raven was too excited to answer. She set the case on her lap, undid the latch, and opened it slowly, letting her childlike curiosity take its time to leave her.

She stared. There was silence.

"Well, what is it, Raven?" Asked Flame.

The silence was making Edgar nervous again. "…You like it, Rae?"

_Oh my gosh… It's… __**hau~!**_ Raven slowly scooped the doll out of its case cradling it in her arms. She couldn't even finish her thoughts. "This is the _most adorable_ doll I've _ever_ seen!" She squeeled. "Where did you find it? It's so _cute_! It's perfect! It's…" She turned the doll over, noticing the key slot. Looking back in the case, she saw the key that went with it.

"Oooh! It's windy!" She reached for the key…

"Ah-ah-ah! Raven! Hold on!" Edgar exclaimed.

She looked up. "…What's the matter, Eddy?"

Edgar scratched his head nervously. "Well, it's a really old doll, which means it's extra fragile. I'm not even sure exactly how old it is, so you don't want to do anything that can break it…"

"…So…?"

The fox sighed. "The owners of the shop also warned me before I bought it that people had returned that doll… an awful lot. That probably means that whatever it's supposed to do when you wind it… don't happen, or doesn't work right. Plus, like I said, it's fragile, so you wouldn't want the key to break it…"

Raven frowned. "So he's only for looking at, huh?"

Edgar nodded. "_It's_ only for decoration, or very gentle play. I wouldn't risk winding it."

"Oh… alright." Raven sighed. Still, she hugged the doll and smiled at it. Raven's other friends no-doubt were wondering why Edgar would have gotten her a doll that might be broken. But Raven didn't care very much. And as long as Raven didn't mind, neither did Edgar.

"Bye Orenda!" Raven waved goodbye with one hand. The only guest remaining now was Edgar… and he couldn't help but feel happy to know that Raven had not put down the doll ever since she had taken it out of its case. The whole remainder of the party, she had kept it securely in her arms. For once, he had chosen a good gift; the perfect gift. He was proud to have done something right.

The 12-year-old turned to her older 'brother'. "Hey Eddy?"

"Yeah?"

"You brought your doll…"

Edgar sweatdropped. "Uh, I'm not the best at playing with dolls, Rae." Raven only smiled.

"Well, I was actually gonna ask ya if you could take him out. I wanna see him."

"Oh, oh… No problem… uh… Let me get it." He quickly walked from the front door to the living room, where he had left his doll on the sofa. He brought it over, in its case, and opened it up for her to see.

"Wow… he's cute too. They have lots of cute dolls over at that store, huh?" She continued to cradle her doll.

"Uh, a few…"

"…Is yours broken?"

Edgar cringed. "…No. But I thought yours was the cutest, and I didn't think the winding option would matter all that much to you… Mine… well… It _**really**_ hurt me to leave the store without it… which is why I have it in the first place." _**Really**__ hurt… At least she didn't have to deal with it falling on her and slamming her on the ground._

Raven's eyes sparkled again. _Oh no_, thought Edgar. _What's she thinking?_

"Well… I don't mind… but I would like to see what he's supposed to do. Can ya please wind yours?"

Edgar did not want to.

The doll had tried to kill him, and he almost thought it would be a better idea to wind her doll than his…

However, the store owners hadn't had any complaints about his doll, which controversially suggested that his was the safer one. "Uh, Raven… there's something I didn't tell you about these dolls…"

Raven looked surprised. "Like what?"

Edgar took a deep breath. "Well…" He quickly explained to her as much as he could remember about the conversation with the shop owners, and how the doll he had with him had basically attacked him three times. "I think they're both perfectly fine as long as we don't wind them up but… I'm just not sure…"

Raven looked shocked at first, then thoughtful. She looked down at her doll. "…Well, yours wasn't complained about…"

"True…"

"So don't ya think if something terrible really did happen when other people wound it, people would have complained and taken it back more?"

"…I guess…"

"So _will you wind, or not wind?_" The purple hedgehog asked thoughtlessly.

Edgar sighed. "Here's the deal: Don't wind yours, and stay behind me while I wind mine. If it attacks us, I'll just destroy it, and if it doesn't do anything weird, then great. How does that sound?"

Raven nodded excitedly. "I'm not scared of any possessed doll. And you're really strong, so I don't think it would even hurt you, big bro. I wanna see what happens."

Edgar smiled softly. "Okay then. Stay behind me." He set his doll's case on the ground, scooping it out and starting to wind it. Raven stepped back and watched intently. Edgar stopped when he feared he might over-wind the thing, disconnecting the key and setting it on the ground a few feet away…

Silence.

"…But that one isn't broken, Eddy, so it should do something—"

"Shhh…"

Suddenly, the doll opened its eyes. Edgar and Raven froze. The doll slowly, rigidly sat up, turning its head towards the fox.

"…Hello Edgar Marralce Alelle." Edgar couldn't move. He made no reply. "I am Katashi, the fifth doll. We are seven altogether."

Edgar was deeply disturbed that the doll knew his full name. However, since it did not seem to be hostile he managed a weak, "U-um… nice to meet you…"

Raven was still in shock. "He's moving…" She whispered.

"I know!" Edgar whispered back.

"I hear you perfectly." Katashi glared. Edgar and Raven both looked back at the living doll, confused, a bit nervous, and still surprised. "Edgar, you must take a vow or discard me."

"Um… I'm sorry?"

"_Protect my heart, and I'll protect you through it._ Or tonight might be the night you die."

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down! Protect… your heart? I mean… sorry dude, but if you're hanging around girls, I can't stop you from _heartbreak_. Especially because, well, you're like an _action figure_, and girls don't develop romantic relationships with those."

Katashi blinked. "… Action figure?"

Raven let go of her doll with one hand, using her teleportation powers to call her Sonic the Hedgehog action figure to her free hand. She still held her doll securely with the other. "Like this."

Katashi looked outraged. "I am _not_ some goofy action figure! I am a special, _hand-crafted_ doll with the rare opportunity to become _**alive**_!" He muttered and rambled for several minutes before calming down. All the while Edgar tried to apologize. "No matter… Anyway, it seems I owe you further explanation, but time is running out quickly… There are seven of us dolls, but only one of us can become Shadow; become real, as you are. To become Shadow, one of us must be able to successfully collect seven other hearts in addition to our own. Each of us has one heart. There are no extras, so we battle in order to reach our goal."

Raven seemed to be horrified, holding her doll more protectively.

Edgar didn't mind so much, but as he thought about the concept, it became more and more disturbing. "…Isn't that a bit… morbid?"

Katashi sighed. "We aren't real. We have no blood or organs. Only a Chaos Emerald heart."

At this, both Raven and Edgar gasped. "Chaos Emerald?"

"T-those were only legendary!" Edgar stammered. "No one's even supposedly seen a Chaos Emerald since photographs were invented!" Raven nodded in agreement.

"They've been hidden inside us." Katashi told the two. He looked at Raven. "You have no reason to fear for his life around me. I'd rather not fight, but some of us are very persistent; They'll do anything they can to steal the other emeralds… So, I'll ask you again: will you promise to help protect me so I can do the same for you, or will you take me back to the shop? If you do neither, you'll be risking your life."

Edgar looked stressed, rubbing his head. He mumbled. "How hard can protecting a doll be?"

Katashi waited. "That's not a straight answer."

"Sure! Fine! I'll do it!" This doll was starting to get on the fox's nerves. Katashi didn't pay attention to this.

"Good, then. We should do our best to get along." The doll tilted his head, blue eyes gazing at Raven with curiosity. "Who are you holding?"

Raven slowly loosened her grip on the doll, holding it so that Katashi could see it better. Katashi frowned. "That one… Looks like you've found the _reject_."

"Hey!" Raven exclaimed angrily.

Katashi continued. "It won't hurt you to wind him, but he is… _needy_. You may come to hate him or dislike him for his personality if you wind him up, but if you don't, and you don't pledge to him, and you don't return him, you might die."

Raven seemed hurt. "But I don't want to return him!"

"I warn you, he may be trouble for you. He was returned so many times because people could not stand him. He was a hassle for them, and will be for you. His heart is like glass, which only makes everything worse. He'll be demanding of your time and energy much more than any other of my sane brothers would be. Take only a minute to think on this, then make your decision: _Will you wind, or not wind_?"

_**A/N: Creepy Doll? Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to come, eventually. =)**_


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